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The American Founding

Founding Documents

Second Treatise

John Locke

1694

§4. To understand Political Power aright, and derive it from its Original, we must
consider what State all Men are naturally in, and that is, a State of perfect Freedom
to order their Actions, and dispose of their Possessions, and Persons as they think
fit, within the bounds of the Law of Nature, without asking leave, or depending upon
the Will of any other Man.

A State also of Equality, wherein all the Power and Jurisdiction is reciprocal, no
one having more than another, there being nothing more evident, than that Creatures
of the same species and rank promiscuously born to all the same advantages of Nature,
and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another without
Subordination or Subjection, unless the Lord and Master of them all, should by any
manifest Declaration of his Will set one above another, and confer on him by an evident
and clear appointment an undoubted Right to Dominion and Sovereignty.

§6. But though this be a State of Liberty, yet it is not a State of Licence, though
Man in that State have an uncontroleable Liberty, to dispose of his Person or Possessions,
yet he has not Liberty to destroy himself, or so much as any Creature in his Possession,
but where some nobler use, than its bare Preservation calls for it. The State of
Nature, has a Law of Nature to govern [it] which obliges every one, and Reason, which
is that Law, teaches all Mankind, who will but consult it; That being all equal and
independent, no one ought to harm another in his Life, Health, Liberty, or Possessions;
for Men being all the Workmanship of one Omnipotent, and infinitely wise maker; All
the Servants of one Sovereign Master, sent into the World by his order and about his
business, they are his Property, whose Workmanship they are, made to last during his,
not one anothers Pleasure. And being Furnished with like Faculties, sharing all in
one Community of Nature, there cannot be supposed any such Subordination among us,
that may Authorize us to destroy one another, as if we were made for one anothers
uses, as the inferior ranks of Creatures are for ours, every one as he is bound to
preserve himself, and not to quit his Station willfully; so by the like reason when
his own Preservation comes not in competition, ought he as much as he can to preserve
the rest of Mankind, and may not unless it be to do Justice on an offender, take away,
or impair the life, or what tends to the Preservation of the Life, Liberty, Health,
Limb or Goods of another.

§7. And that all Men may be restrained from invading others Rights, and from doing
hurt to one another, and the Law of Nature be observed, which willeth the Peace and
Preservation of all Mankind, the Execution of the Law of Nature is in that State,
put into every Mans hands, whereby everyone has a right to punish the transgressors
of that Law to such a Degree, as may hinder its Violation. For the Law of Nature
would as all other Laws that concern Men in this World be in vain, if there were no
body that in the State of Nature, had a Power to Execute that Law, and thereby preserve
the innocent and restrain offenders, and if any one in the State of Nature may punish
another, for any evil he has done, every one may do so. For in that State of perfect
Equality, where naturally there is no superiority or jurisdiction of one, over another,
what any may do in Prosecution of that Law, every one must needs have a Right to do.

§13. To this strange Doctrine, viz. That in the State of Nature, every one has the
Executive Power of the Law of Nature, I doubt not but it will be objected; That
it is unreasonable for Men to be Judges in their own Cases, that selflove will make
Men partial to themselves and their Friends. And on the other side, that Ill Nature,
Passion and Revenge will carry them too far in punishing others. And hence nothing
but Confusion and Disorder will follow, and that therefore God hath certainly appointed
Government to restrain the partiality and violence of Men. I easily grant, that Civil
Government is the proper Remedy for the Inconveniences of the State of Nature, which
must certainly be Great, where Men may be Judges in their own Case, since 'tis easie
to be imagined, that he who was so unjust as to do his Brother an Injury, will scarce
be so just as to condemn himself for it: But I shall desire those who make this Objection,
to remember that Absolute Monarchs are but Men, and if Government is to be the Remedy
of those Evils, which necessarily follow from Mens being Judges in their Own Cases,
and the State of Nature is therefore not to be endured, I desire to know what kind
of Government that is, and how much better it is than the State of Nature, where one
Man commanding a multitude, has the Liberty to be Judge in his own Case, and may do
to all his Subjects whatever he pleases, without the least question or controle those
who Execute his Pleasure? And in whatsoever he doth, whether led by Reason, Mistake
or Passion, must be submitted to? Which men in the State of Nature are not bound
to do one to another; And if he he that Judges, Judges amiss in his own, or any other
Case, he is answerable for it to the rest of Mankind.

§14. 'Tis often asked as a mighty Objection, Where are, or ever were, there any Men
in such a State of Nature? To which it may suffice as an answer at present; That
since all Princes and Rulers of Independent Governments all through the World, are in a State of Nature, 'tis plain the World
never was, nor never will be, without Numbers of Men in that State. I have named
all Governors of Independent Communities, whether they are, or are not, in League with others; For 'tis not every
Compact that puts an end to the State of Nature between Men, but only this one of
agreeing together mutually to enter into one Community, and make one Body Politick;
other Promises and Compacts, Men may make one with another, and yet still be in the
State of Nature. The Promises and Bargains for Truck, &c. between the two Men in
the Desert Island, mentioned by Garcilasso De la vega, in his History of Peru, or between a Swiss and an Indian, in the Woods of America, are binding to them, though they are perfectly in a State of Nature, in reference
to one another. For Truth and keeping of Faith belongs to Men, as Men, and not as
Members of Society.

§15. To those that say, There were never any Men in the State of Nature; I will
not only oppose the Authority of the Judicious Hooker, Eccl. Pol. Lib. I. Sect 10…But I moreover affirm, That all Men are naturally in that State, and remain so, till
by their own Consents they make themselves Members of some Politick Society; And
I doubt not in the Sequel of this Discourse, to make it very clear.

The Right to Private Property

§32. But the chief matter of Property being now not the Fruits of the Earth, and
the Beasts that subsist on it, but the Earth it self; as that which takes in and
carries with it all the rest: I think it is plain, that Property in that too is acquired
as the former. As much Land as a Man Tills, Plants, Improves, Cultivates, and can
use the Product of, so much is his Property. He by his Labour does, as it were, inclose
it from the Common. Nor will it invalidate his right to say, Every body else has
an equal Title to it; and therefore he cannot appropriate, he cannot inclose, without
the Consent of all his FellowCommoners, all Mankind. God, when he gave the World
in common to all Mankind, commanded Man also to labour, and penury of his Condition
required it of him. God and his Reason commanded him to subdue the Earth, i.e. improve it for the benefit of Life, and therein lay out something upon it that was
his own, his labour. He that in Obedience to this Command of God, subdued, tilled
and sowed any part of it, thereby annexed to it something that was his Property, which another had no Title to, nor could without injury take from him.

§33. Nor was this appropriation of any parcel of Land, by improving it, any prejudice
to any other Man, since there was still enough, and as good left; and more than the
yet unprovided could use. So that in effect, there was never the less left for others
because of his inclosure for himself. For he that leaves as much as another can make
use of, does as good as take nothing at all. No Body could think himself injur'd
by the drinking of another Man, though he took a good Draught, who had a whole River
of the same Water left him to quench his thirst. And the Case of Land and Water,
where there is enough of both, is perfectly the same.

§34. God gave the World to Men in Common; but since he gave it them for their benefit,
and the greatest Conveniencies of Life they were capable to draw from it, it cannot
be supposed he meant it should always remain common and uncultivated. He gave it
to the use of the Industrious and Rational, (and Labour was to be his Title to it;)
not to the Fancy or Covetousness of the Quarrelsom and Contentious. He that had as
good left for his Improvement, as was already taken up, needed not complain, ought
not to meddle with what was already improved by another's Labour: If he did, 'tis
plain he desired the benefit of another's Pains which he had no right to, and not
the Ground which God had given him in common with others to labour on, and whereof
there was as good left, as that already possessed, and more than he knew what to do
with, or his Industry could reach to.

§36. The measure of Property, Nature has well set, by the Extent of Mens Labour,
and the Conveniency of Life: No Man's Labour could subdue, or appropriate all; nor
could his Enjoyment consume more than a small part; so that it was impossible for
any Man, this way, to intrench upon the right of another, or acquire, to himself,
a Property, to the Prejudice of his Neighbour, who would still have room, for as good,
and as large a Possession (after the other had taken out his) as before it was appropriated,
which measure did confine every Man's Possession, to a very moderate Proportion, and
such as he might appropriate to himself, without Injury to any Body, in the first
Ages of the World, when Men were more in danger to be lost, by wandering from their
Company, in the then vast Wilderness of the Earth, than to be straitned for want of
room to plant in. And the same measure may be allowed still, without prejudice to
any Body, as full as the World seems. For supposing a Man, or Family, in the state
they were at first peopling of the World by the Children of Adam, or Noah; let him plant in some inland, vacant places of America, we shall find that the Possessions he could make himself upon the measures we have given, would not be very large, nor,
even to this day, prejudice the rest of Mankind, or give them reason to complain,
or think themselves injured by this Man's Incroachment, though the Race of Men have
now spread themselves to all the corners of the World, and do infinitely exceed the
small number was at the beginning. Nay, the extent of Ground is of so little value,
without labour, that, I have heard it affirmed, that in Spain it self, a Man may be permitted to plough, sow, and reap, without being disturbed,
upon Land he has no other Title to, but only his making use of it. But, on the contrary,
the Inhabitants think themselves beholden to him, who, by his Industry on neglected,
and consequently waste Land, has increased the stock of Corn, which they wanted.
But be this as it will, which I lay no stress on; this I dare boldly affirm, That
the same Rule of Propriety, (viz.) that every Man should have as much as he could make use of, would hold still in
the World, without straitning any body, since there is Land enough in the World to
suffice double the Inhabitants, had not the Invention of Money, and the tacit Agreement
of Men, to put a value on it, introduced (by Consent) larger Possessions, and a Right
to them; which, how it has done, I shall, by and by, shew more at large.

§37. This is certain, That in the beginning, before the desire of having more than
Man needed, had altered the intrinsick value of things, which depends only on their
usefulness to the Life of Man; or had agreed, that a little piece of yellow Metal,
which would keep without wasting or decay, should be worth a great piece of Flesh,
or a whole heap of Corn; though Men had a Right to appropriate, by their Labour,
each one to himself, as much of the things of Nature, as he could use: Yet this could
not be much, nor to the Prejudice of others, where the same plenty was still left,
to those who would use the same Industry.

Origin of Political Society

§87. Man being born, as has been proved, with a Title to perfect Freedom, and an
uncontrouled enjoyment of all the Rights and Priviledges of the Law of Nature, equally
with any other Man, or Number of Men in the World, hath by Nature a Power, not only
to preserve his Property, that is, his Life, Liberty and Estate, against the Injuries
and Attempts of other Men; but to judge of, and punish the breaches of that Law in
others, as he is perswaded the Offence deserves, even with Death it self, in Crimes
where the heinousness of the fact, in his Opinion, requires it. But because no Political
Society can be, nor subsist without having in it self the Power to preserve the Property,
and in order thereunto punish the Offences of all those of that Society: There, and
there only is Political Society, where every one of the Members hath quitted this
natural Power, resign'd it up into the hands of the Community in all cases that exclude
him not from appealing for Protection to the Law established by it. And thus all
private judgment of every particular Member being excluded, the Community comes to
be Umpire, by settled standing Rules, indifferent, and the same to all Parties; And
by Men having Authority from the Community, for the execution of those Rules, decides
all the differences that may happen between any Members of that Society, concerning
any matter of right, and punishes those Offences which any Member hath committed
against the Society with such Penalites as the Law has established; whereby it is
easie to discern who are, and who are not, in Political Society together. Those who
are united into one Body, and have a common establish'd Law and Judicature to appeal
to, with Authority to decide Controversies between them, and punish Offenders, are
in Civil Society one with another; but those who have no such common Appeal, I mean
on Earth, are still in the state of Nature, each being, where there is no other, Judge
for himself, and Executioner; which is, as I have before shew'd it, the perfect state
of Nature.

§88. And thus the Commonwealth comes by a power to set down what punishment shall
belong to the several transgressions which they think worthy of it, committed amongst
the Members of that Society, (which is the power of making Laws) as well as it has
the power to punish any Injury done unto any of its Members, by any one that is not
of it, (which is the power of War and Peace;) and all this for the preservation of
the property of all the Members of that Society, as far as is possible. But though
every Man enter'd into civil Society, has quitted his power to punish Offences against
the Law of Nature, in prosecution of his own private Judgment; yet with the Judgment
of Offences which he has given up to the Legislative in all Cases where he can Appeal
to the Magistrate, he has given up a Right to the Commonwealth to imploy his force
for the Execution of the Judgments of the Commonwealth, whenever he shall be called
to it, which indeed are his own Judgments, they being made by himself, or his Representative.
And herein we have the original of the Legislative and Executive Power of Civil Society,
which is to judge by standing Laws how far Offences are to be punished when committed
within the Commonwealth; and also by occasional Judgments founded on the present
Circumstances of the Fact, how far Injuries from without are to be vindicated, and
in both these to imploy all the force of all the Members when there shall be need.

§89. Whereever therefore any number of Men are so united into one Society, as to
quit every one his Executive Power of the Law of Nature, and to resign it to the publick,
there and there only is a Political, or Civil Society. And this is done whereever
any number of Men, in the State of Nature, enter into Society to make one People,
one Body Politick under one Supream Government, or else when any one joyns himself
to, and incorporates with any Government already made. For hereby he authorizes the
Society, or which is all one, the Legislative thereof to make Laws for him as the
publick good of the Sociey shall require; to the Execution whereof, his own assistance
(as to his own decrees) is due. And this puts Men out of a State of Nature into that
of a Commonwealth, by setting up a Judge on Earth, with Authority to determine all
the Controversies, and redress the injuries, that may happen to any Member of the
Commonwealth; which Judge is the Legislative, or Magistrates appointed by it. And
whereever there are any number of Men, however associated, that have no such decisive
power to appeal to, there they are still in the state of Nature.

§90. And hence it is evident, that Absolute Monarchy which by some Men is counted
for the only Government in the World, is indeed inconsistent with Civil Society, and
so can be no Form of Civil Government at all. For the end of Civil Society, being
to avoid and remedy those inconveniencies of the State of Nature which necessarily
follow from every Man's being Judge in his own Case, by setting up a known Authority,
to which every one of that Society may Appeal upon any injury received, or Controversie
that may arise, and which every one of the Society ought to obey; whereever any persons
are, who have not such an Authority to Appeal to, for the decision of any difference
between them, there those persons are still in the state of Nature. And so is every
Absolute Prince in respect of those who are under his Dominion.

§99. Whosoever therefore out of a State of Nature unite into a Community, must be
understood to give up all the power necessary to the ends for which they unite into
Society, to the majority of the Community, unless they expressly agreed in any number
greater than the majority. And this is done by barely agreeing to unite into one
Political Society, which is all the Compact that is, or needs be, between the Individuals
that enter into or make up a Commonwealth. And thus that which begins and actually
constitutes any Political Society, is nothing but the consent of any number of Freemen
capable of a majority to unite and incorporate into such a Society. And this is that,
and that only which did or could give beginning to any lawful Government in the World.

The Purpose of Government

§123. If Man in the State of Nature be so free, as has been said; If he be absolute
Lord of his own Person and Possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to no Body,
why will he part with his Freedom? Why will he give up this Empire, and subject himself
to the Dominion and Controul of any other Power? To which 'tis obvious to Answer,
that though in the state of Nature he hath such a right, yet the Enjoyment of it is
very uncertain, and constantly exposed to the Invasion of others; for all being Kings
as much as he, every Man his Equal, and the greater part no strict Observers of Equity
and Justice, the enjoyment of the property he has in this state is very unsafe, very
unsecure. This makes him willing to quit this Condition, which however free, is full
of fears and continual dangers: And 'tis not without reason, that he seeks out, and
is willing to joyn in Society with others who are already united, or have a mind to
unite for the mutual Preservation of their Lives, Liberties, and Estates, which I
call by the general Name, Property.

§124. The great and chief end therefore, of Mens uniting into Commonwealths, and
putting themselves under Government, is the Preservation of their Property. To which
in the state of Nature there are many things wanting.

First, There wants an establish'd, settled, known Law, received and allowed by common consent
to be the Standard of Right and Wrong, and the common measure to decide all Controversies
between them. For though the Law of Nature be plain and intelligible to all rational
Creatures; yet Men being biassed by their Interest, as well as ignorant for want
of study of it, are not apt to allow of it as a Law binding to them in the application
of it to their particular Cases.

§125. Secondly, In the State of Nature there wants a known and indifferent Judge, with Authority
to determine all differences according to the established Law. For every one in the
state being both Judge and Executioner of the Law of Nature, Men being partial to
themselves, Passion and Revenge is very apt to carry them too far, and with too much
heat in their own Cases, as well as negligence, and unconcernedness, make them too
remiss, in other Mens.

§126. Thirdly, In the state of Nature there often wants Power to back and support the Sentence
when right, and to give it due Execution. They who by any Injustice offended, will
seldom fail, where they are able, by force to make good their Injustice, such resistance
many times makes the punishment dangerous, and frequently destructive, to those who
attempt it.

§127. Thus Mankind, notwithstanding all the Priviledges of the state of Nature, being
but in an ill condition while they remain in it, are quickly driven into Society.
Hence it comes to pass, that we seldom find any number of Men live any time together
in this State. The inconveniencies that they are therein exposed to, by the irregular
and uncertain exercise of the Power every Man has of punishing the transgressions
of others, make them take Sanctuary under the establish'd Laws of Government, and
therein seek the preservation of their Property. 'Tis this makes them so willingly
give up every one his single power of punishing to be exercised by such alone as shall
be appointed to it amongst them; and by such Rules as the Community, or those authorised
by it to them to that purpose shall agree on. And in this we have the original right
and rise of both the Legislative and Executive Power, as well as of the Governments
and Societies themselves.

§128. For in the State of Nature, to omit the liberty he has of innocent Delights,
a Man has two Powers.

The first is to do whatsoever he thinks fit for the preservation of himself and others
within the permission of the Law of Nature: by which Law common to them all, he and
all the rest of Mankind are one Community, make up one Society distinct from all other
Creatures, and were it not for the corruption and vitiousness of degenerate Men, there
would be no need of any other, no necessity that Men should separate from this great
and associate into less Combinations.

The other power a Man has in the State of Nature, is the power to punish the Crimes
committed against that Law. Both these he gives up when he joyns in a private, if
I may so call it, or particular Political Society, and incorporates into any Commonwealth,
separate from the rest of Mankind.

§129. The first Power, viz. of doing whatsoever he thought fit for the preservation of himself, and the rest
of Mankind, he gives up to be regulated by Laws made by the Society, so far forth
as the preservation of himself, and the rest of that Society shall require; which
Laws of the Society in many things confine the liberty he had by the Law of Nature.

§130. Secondly, the Power of punishing he wholly gives up, and engages his natural force, (which
he might before imploy in the Execution of the Law of Nature, by his own single Authority,
as he thought fit) to assist the Executive Power of the Society, as the Law thereof
shall require. For being now in a new State, wherein he is to enjoy many Conveniencies
from the labour, assistance and society of others in the same Community, as well as
protection from its whole strength; he is to part also with as much of his natural
liberty in providing for himself, as the good, prosperity and safety of the Society
shall require; which is not only necessary but just, since the other Members of
the Society do the like.

§131. But though Men when they enter into Society, give up the Equality, Liberty,
and Executive Power they had in the State of Nature, into the hands of the Society,
to be so far disposed of by the Legislative, as the good of the Society shall require;
yet it being only with an intention in every one the better to preserve himself his
Liberty and Property; (For no rational Creature can be supposed to change his condition
with an intention to be worse) the power of the Society, or Legislative constituted
by them, can never be suppos'd to extend farther than the common good; but is obliged
to secure every ones Property by providing against those three defects abovementioned,
that made the State of Nature so unsafe and uneasie. And so whoever has the Legislative
or supream Power of any Commonwealth, is bound to govern by establish'd standing Laws,
promulgated and known to the People, and not by Extemporary Decrees; by indifferent
and upright Judges, who are to decide Controversies by those Laws; And to imploy
the force of the Community sat home, only in the Execution of such Laws, or abroad
to prevent or redress Foreign Injuries, and secure the Community from Inroads and
Invasion. And all this to be directed to no other end, but the Peace, Safety, and
publick good of the People.

§142. These are the Bounds which the trust that is put in them by the Society, and
the Law of God and Nature, have set to the Legislative Power of every Commonwealth,
in all Forms of Government.

First, They are to govern by promulgated establish'd Laws, not to be varied in particular
Cases, but to have one Rule for the Rich and Poor, for the Favourite at Court, and
the Country Man at Plough.

Secondly, These Laws also ought to be designed for no other end ultimately but the
good of the People.

Thirdly, they must not raise Taxes on the Property of the People, without the Consent
of the People, given by themselves, or their Deputies. And this properly concerns
only such Governments where the Legislative is always in being, or at least where
the People have not reserv'd any part of the Legislative to Deputies, to be from time
to time chosen by themselves.

Fourthly, The Legislative neither must nor can transfer the Power of making Laws to
any Body else, or place it any where but where the People have.

The Right to Revolution

§222. The Reason why Men enter into Society, is the preservation of their Property;
and the end why they chuse and authorize a Legislative, is, that there may be Laws
made, and Rules set as Guards and Fences to the Properties of all the Members of the
Society, to limit the Power, and moderate the Dominion of every Part and Member of
the Society. For since it can never be supposed to be the Will of the Society, that
the Legislative should have a Power to destroy that which every one designs to secure,
by entering into Society, and for which the People submitted themselves to Legislators
of their own making; whenever the Legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy
the Property of the People, or to reduce them to Slavery under Arbitrary Power, they
put themselves into a state of War with the People, who are thereupon absolved from
any farther Obedience, and are left to the common Refuge, which God hath provided
for all Men, against Force and Violence. Whensoever therefore the Legislative shall
transgress this fundamental Rule of Society; and either by Ambition, Fear, Folly
or Corruption, endeavour to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other and
Absolute Power over the Lives, Liberties, and Estates of the People: By this breach
of Trust they forfeit the Power, the People had put into their hands for quite contrary
ends, and it devolves to the People; who have a Right to resume their original Liberty,
and, by the Establishment of a new Legislative (such as they shall think fit) provide
for their own Safety and Security, which is the end for which they are in Society.
What I have said here, concerning the Legislative in general, holds true also concerning
the supreme Executor, who having a double trust put in him, both to have a part in
the Legislative, and the supreme Execution of the Law, acts against both, when he
goes about to set up his own Arbitrary Will, as the Law of the Society. He acts also
contrary to his Trust, when he either imploys the Force, Treasure, and Offices of
the Society, to corrupt the Representatives, and gain them to his purposes: When
he openly preingages the Electors, and prescribes to their choice, such, whom he has
by Sollicitations, Threats, Promises, or otherwise won to his designs; and imploys
them to bring in such, who have promised beforehand, what to Vote, and what to Enact.
Thus to regulate Candidates and Electors, and new model the ways of Election what
is it but to cut up the Government by the Roots, and poison the very Fountain of publick
Security? For the People having reserved to themselves the Choice of Representatives,
as the Fence to their Properties, could do it for no other end, but that they might
always be freely chosen, and so chosen, freely act and advise, as the necessity of
the Commonwealth, and the publick Good should, upon examination, and mature debate,
be judged to require. This, those who give their Votes before they hear the Debate,
and have weighed the Reasons on all sides, are not capable of doing. To prepare such
an Assembly as this, and endeavour to set up the declared Abettors of his own Will,
for the true Representatives of the People, and the Lawmakers of the Society, is certainly
as great a breach of trust, and as perfect a Declaration of a design to subvert the
Government, as is possible to be met with. To which, if one shall add Rewards and
Punishments visibly imploy'd to the same end, and all the Arts of perverted Law made
use of to take off and destroy all that stand in the way of such a design, and will
not comply and consent to betray the Liberties of their Country, 'twill be past doubt
what is doing. What Power they ought to have in the Society, who thus imploy it contrary
to the trust went along with it in its first Institution, is easie to determine;
and one cannot but see, that he who has once attempted any such thing as this, cannot
any longer be trusted.

§223. To this perhaps it will be said, that the People being ignorant and always
discontented, to lay the Foundation of Government in the unsteady Opinion and uncertain
Humour of the People, is to expose it to certain ruine: And no Government will be
able long to subsist, if the People may set up a new Legislative whenever they take
offence at the old one. To this I Answer quite the contrary. People are not so easily
got out of their old Forms, as some are apt to suggest. They are hardly to be prevailed
with to amend the acknowledg'd Faults in the Frame they have been accustom'd to.
And if there be any Original defects, or adventitious ones introduced by time or corruption;
'tis not an easie thing to get them changed, even when all the World sees there is
an opportunity for it. This slowness and aversion in the People to quit their old
Constitutions, has in the many Revolutions which have been seen in this Kingdom, in
this and former Ages, still kept us to, or after some interval of fruitless attempts,
still brought us back again to our old Legislative of King, Lords and Commons: And
whatever provocations have made the Crown be taken from some of our Princes Heads,
they never carried the People so far as to place it in another Line.

§224. But 'twill be said, this Hypothesis lays a ferment for frequent Rebellion.
To which I Answer,

First, No more than any other Hypothesis. For when the People are made miserable,
and find themselves exposed to the ill usage of Arbitrary Power; cry up their Governors
as much as you will for Sons of Jupiter, let them be Sacred and Divine, descended
or authoriz'd from Heaven; give them out for whom or what you please the same will
happen. The People generally ill treated, and contrary to right, will be ready upon
any occasion to ease themselves of a burden that sits heavy upon them. They will
wish and seek for the opportunity, which in the change, weakness and accidents of
humane affairs seldom delays long to offer it self. He must have lived but a little
while in the World, who has not seen Examples of this in his time; and he must have
read very little, who cannot produce Examples of it in all sorts of Governments in
the World.

§225. Secondly, I Answer, such Revolutions happen not upon every little mismanagement
in publick affairs. Great mistakes in the ruling part, many wrong and inconvenient
Laws, and all the slips of humane frailty will be born by the People, without mutiny
or murmur. But if a long train of Abuses, Prevarications and Artifices, all tending
the same way, make the design visible to the People, and they cannot but feel what
they lie under, and see whither they are going; 'tis not to be wonder'd that they
should then rouze themselves, and endeavour to put the rule into such hands, which
may secure to them the ends for which Government was at first erected; and without
which, ancient Name, and specious Forms, are so far from being better, that they are
much worse than the state of Nature, or pure Anarchy; the inconveniencies being all
as great and as near, but the remedy farther off and more difficult.

§226. Thirdly, I Answer, That this Power in the People of providing for their safety
anew, by a new Legislative, when their Legislators have acted contrary to their trust,
by invading their Property, is the best fence against Rebellion, and the probablest
means to hinder it. For Rebellion being an Opposition, not to Persons, but Authority,
which is founded only in the Constitutions and Laws of the Government; those, whoever
they be, who by force break through, and by force justifie their violation of them,
are truly and properly Rebels. For when Men by entering into Society and Civil Government,
have excluded force, and introduced Laws for the preservation of Property Peace and
Unity amongst themselves; those who set up force again in opposition to the Laws,
do Rebellare, that is, bring back again the state of War, and are properly Rebels: Which they
who are in Power, by the pretence they have to Authority, the temptation of force
they have in their hands, and the Flattery of those about them being likeliest to
do; the properest way to prevent the evil, is to shew them the danger and injustice
of it, who are under the greatest temptation to run into it.

§227. In both the forementioned Cases, when either the Legislative is changed, or
the Legislators act contrary to the end for which they were constituted; those who
are guilty are guilty of Rebellion. For if any one by force takes away the establish'd
Legislative of any Society, and the Laws by them made, pursuant to their trust, he
thereby takes away the Umpirage which every one had consented to, for a peaceable
decision of all their Controversies, and a bar to the state of War amongst them.
They who remove, or change the Legislative, take away this decisive power, which no
Body can have, but by the appointment and consent of the People; and so destroying
the Authority which the People did, and no Body else can set up, and introducing a
Power which the People hath not authoriz'd; actually introduce a state of War, which
is that of Force without Authority: And thus by removing the Legislative establish'd
by the Society, in whose decisions the People acquiesced and united, as to that of
their own will; they unty the Knot, and expose the People a new to the state of War.
And if those, who by force take away the Legislative, are Rebels, the Legislators
themselves, as has been shewn, can be no less esteemed so; when they who were set
up for the protection and preservation of the People, their Liberties and Properties
shall by force invade and indeavour to take them away; and so they putting themselves
into a state of War with those who made them the Protectors and Guardians of their
Peace, are properly, and with the greatest aggravation, Rebellantes Rebels.

§228. But if they who say it lays a foundation for Rebellion, mean that it may occasion
Civil Wars, or Intestine Broils, to tell the People they are absolved from Obedience,
when illegal attempts are made upon their Liberties or Properties, and may oppose
the unlawful violence of those who were their Magistrates when they invade their Properties
contrary to the trust put in them; and that therefore this Doctrine is not to be
allow'd, being so destructive to the Peace of the World. They may as well say upon
the same ground, that honest Men may not oppose Robbers or Pirats, because this may
occasion disorder or bloodshed. If any mischief come in such Cases, it is not to
be charged upon him who defends his own right, but on him that invades his Neighbours.
If the innocent honest Man must quietly quit all he has for Peace sake, to him who
will lay violent hands upon it, I desire it may be consider'd, what a kind of Peace
there will be in the World, which consists only in Violence and Rapine; and which
is to be maintain'd only for the benefit of Robbers and Oppressors. Who would not
think it an admirable Peace betwixt the Mighty and the Mean, when the Lamb, without
resistance, yielded his Throat to be torn by the imperious Wolf? Polyphemus's Den gives us a perfect Pattern of such a Peace. Such a Government wherein Ulysses and his Companions had nothing to do, but quietly to suffer themselves to be devour'd.
And no doubt, Ulysses who was a prudent Man, preach'd up Passive Obedience, and exhorted them to a quiet
Submission, by representing to them of what concernment Peace was to Mankind; and
by shewing the inconveniencies might happen, if they should offer to resist Polyphemus,
who had now the power over them.

§229. The end of Government is the good of Mankind; and which is best for Mankind,
that the People should be always expos'd to the boundless will of Tyranny, or that
the Rulers should be sometimes liable to be oppos'd, when they grow exorbitant in
the use of their Power, and imploy it for the destruction, and not the preservation
of the Properties of their People?

§230. Nor let any one say, that mischief can arise from hence, as often as it shall
please a busie head or turbulent spirit to desire the alteration of the Government.
'Tis true, such Men may stir whenever they please, but it will be only to their own
just ruine and perdition. For till the mischief be grown general, and the ill designs
of the Rulers become visible, or their attempts sensible to the greater part, the
People, who are more disposed to suffer, than right themselves by Resistance, are
not apt to stir. The examples of particular Injustice, or Oppression of here and
there an unfortunate Man, moves them not. But if they universally have a perswasion
grounded upon manifest evidence, that designs are carrying on against their Liberties,
and the general course and tendency of things cannot but give them strong suspicions
of the evil intention of their Governors, who is to be blamed for it? Who can help
it, if they, who might avoid it, bring themselves into suspicion? Are the People
to be blamed, if they have the sence of rational Creatures, and can think of things
no otherwise than as they find and feel them? And is it not rather their fault who
puts things in such a posture that they would not have them thought as they are?
I grant, that the Pride, Ambition, and Turbulency of private Men have sometimes caused
great Disorders in Commonwealths, and Factions have been fatal to States and Kingdoms.
But whether the mischief hath oftner begun in the Peoples Wantonness, and a Desire
to cast off the lawful Authority of their Rulers; or in the Rulers Insolence, and
Endeavours to get, and exercise an Arbitrary Power over their People; whether Oppression,
or Disobedience gave the first rise to the Disorder, I leave it to impartial History
to determine. This I am sure, whoever, either Ruler or Subject, by force goes about
to invade the Rights of either Prince or People, and lays the foundation for overturning
the Constitution and Frame of any Just Government; he is guilty of the greatest Crime,
I think, a Man is capable of, being to answer for all those mischiefs of Blood, Rapine,
and Desolation, which the breaking to pieces of Governments bring on a Countrey.
And he who does it, is justly to be esteemed the common Enemy and Pest of Mankind;
and is to be treated accordingly.

§240. Here, 'tis like, the common Question will be made, Who shall be Judge whether
the Prince or Legislative act contrary to their Trust? This, perhaps, ill affected
and factious Men may spread amongst the People, when the Prince only makes use of
his due Prerogative. To this I reply; The People shall be Judge; for who shall be
Judge whether his Trustee or Deputy acts well, and according to the Trust reposed
in him, but he who deputes him, and must, by having deputed him have still a Power
to discard him, when he fails in his Trust? If this be reasonable in particular Cases
of private Men, why should it be otherwise in that of the greatest moment, where
the Welfare of Millions is concerned, and also where the evil, if not prevented, is
greater, and the Redress very difficult, dear, and dangerous?

§241. But farther, this Question, (Who shall be Judge?) cannot mean, that there is
no Judge at all. For where there is no Judicature on Earth, to decide Controversies
amongst Men, God in Heaven is Judge: He alone, 'tis true, is Judge of the Right.
But every Man is Judge for himself, as in all other Cases, so in this, whether another
hath put himself into a State of War with him, and whether he should appeal to the
Supreme Judge, as Jeptha did.

§243. To conclude, The Power that every individual gave the Society, when he entered
into it, can never revert to the Individuals again, as long as the Society lasts,
but will always remain in the Community; because without this, there can be no Community,
no Commonwealth, which is contrary to the original Agreement: So also when the Society
hath placed the Legislative in any Assembly of Men, to continue in them and their
Successors, with Direction and Authority for providing such Successors, the Legislative
can never revert to the People whilst that Government lasts: Because having provided
a Legislative with Power to continue for ever, they have given up their Political
Power to the Legislative, and cannot resume it. But if they have set Limits to the
Duration of their Legislative, and made this Supreme Power in any Person, or Assembly,
only temporary: Or else when by the Miscarriages of those in Authority, it is forfeited;
upon the Forfeiture of their Rulers, or at the Determination of the Time set, it reverts
to the Society, and the People have a Right to act as Supreme, and continue the Legislative
in themselves, or place in it a new Form, or new hands, as they think good.